


First Christmas

by Anxiouslykitty



Series: Christmas 2020 [3]
Category: The Expanse (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Eve, F/F, Fever, Hurt/Comfort, Love, santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:35:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28323945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anxiouslykitty/pseuds/Anxiouslykitty
Summary: Bobbie finds out what Christmas is like on Earth.
Relationships: Chrisjen Avasarala/Bobbie Draper
Series: Christmas 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2074266
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	First Christmas

Bobbie stood stiffly in the kitchen looking into the living room as Chrisjen’s grandchildren chased each other around the room. It had been an overwhelming day so far. Bobbie had never celebrated Christmas growing up on Mars and now Chrisjen was insisting that she take part in Christmas with her and her grandchildren. Arjun and Ashanti were on Luna and weren’t coming down until the next day. Today had been just Chrisjen and Bobbie and the children. They had spent all of Christmas Eve running around doing different activities which Chrisjen insisted were important.

They had started the morning with ice skating on a small pond near where Chrisjen lived and then they had played in the snow for a long time. Bobbie had never seen snow before and she had found it all very overwhelming. As if Earth’s gravity and horizon weren’t overwhelming enough add in snow and it becomes almost unbearable. Bobbie had tried to play along at the insistence of Chrisjen, but she had struggled. They had spent the afternoon baking and building gingerbread houses and now Chrisjen wanted to sit down and watch an old Christmas movie. Bobbie wanted to go to bed and not come out again.

“Stop fucking standing there like some statue and come sit with me” Chrisjen demanded.

“I’m tired,” Bobbie grumbled. 

Chrisjen grabbed Bobbie’s arm and dragged her towards the living room. In all honesty Chrisjen wasn’t dragging her anywhere. If Bobbie had wanted to stop Chrisjen would have had no power to move her. She was going with her willingly if not hesitantly. Chrisjen sat on the couch and patted the spot next to her for Bobbie to sit in. As soon as Bobbie sat down Chrisjen cuddled in next to her.

“Alright start the movie” Chrisjen instructed her grandson.

Bobbie tried to relax and enjoy the movie, but it took a while. She really did want to go to bed and she found this movie ridiculous. It made no sense to her and she figured you had to be an Earther to understand it. However by the way that Chrisjen’s grandchildren absently played with their terminals while watching the movie she had a feeling they didn’t find it interesting either. Bobbie was pulled out of her pondering by Chrisjen’s grandson turning around.

“Nana has fallen asleep” he remarked. 

Bobbie looked down at Chrisjen and smirked. Chrisjen had curled up against Bobbie with her head resting on Bobbie’s shoulder. She had her arm wrapped around Bobbie’s arm and was sound asleep. Bobbie gently wiggled her arm hoping to alert Chrisjen to the fact that they had noticed her sleeping. Chrisjen was a light sleeper and normally something like that would cause her to sit up and declare she hadn’t been asleep at all. This time however Chrisjen didn’t move at all. Bobbie masked her concern with a smile so that Chrisjen’s grandchildren didn’t worry.

Although Chrisjen and Bobbie had grown close since their time on the Rocinante they hadn’t been outwardly affectionate in front of other people. Bobbie had been especially adamant about them not being affectionate in front of the children. She didn’t want to affect the way that the children looked at Chrisjen or the way they felt about Arjun. To Bobbie it was important that her relationship with Chrisjen didn’t ruin what Chrisjen had in life. Now however her desire to remain private was being overridden by her concern for the woman she was starting to love.

With a gentle hand Bobbie brushed her knuckles along Chrisjen’s cheek. She was shocked with how warm Chrisjen’s face felt. She was burning up with fever and Bobbie hadn’t even noticed. Chrisjen always seemed too strong of a person to be affected by something as simple as getting sick. Even when she was bleeding in her brain on the Rocinante she seemed too strong to be hurt. 

“It looks like you’ve truly tired her out” Bobbie exclaimed.

Slowly Bobbie readjusted their positions so that she could scoop Chrisjen delicately off of the couch. It was like lifting a pillow from a bed. Chrisjen was so light and delicate that it made Bobbie’s heart ache. Bobbie curled Chrisjen into her chest comfortably. Chrisjen didn’t react at all to the movement, which concerned Bobbie more. 

“Nana will kill you when she finds out you picked her up” Chrisjen’s grandson exclaimed.

Bobbie couldn’t help but laugh at that. Chrisjen had threatened her before about picking her up. 

“Why don’t you two go to bed” Bobbie instructed. “I’ll put your Nana to bed.”

They looked reluctant to go but neither put up a fight. 

“We’ll see you in the morning for presents” he called as they both disappeared up the stairs to their room.

Bobbie didn’t see any presents anywhere and she filed that away as something to address after she took Chrisjen upstairs and hooked her up to the portable autodoc Bobbie had insisted they get after Chrisjen’s health problems on the Rocinante. Carrying Chrisjen was easy and it took Bobbie no time to get her upstairs and lying on the bed. Bobbie pulled the autodoc out and attached it to Chrisjen’s arm. With a few quick taps the machine began to assist Chrisjen’s body in regulating her temperature and trying to fight off the virus she seemed to have picked up. 

Bobbie grabbed Chrisjen’s hand terminal and placed a call to Arjun. She knew it was late but she was hoping he would pick up. It didn’t take him long to pick up and the look of surprise and then fear when he saw Bobbie instead of Chrisjen was endearing.

“She’s okay” Bobbie blurted out.

Arjun visibly relaxed and Bobbie continued.

“She fell asleep watching a movie and she’s got a fever. I’ve got her on the autodoc and I’m sure she’ll be fine. The reason I’m calling is because the kids mentioned something about opening presents in the morning, but I don’t see any presents” Bobbie explained.

“Oh Santa” Arjun exclaimed.

Bobbie furrowed her brow in confusion and Arjun chuckled.

“You have to put the presents under the tree after the children have gone to bed” Arjun explained. “If Chrisjen is really feeling so unwell you’ve had to hook her up then you’ll have to play Santa and put the presents under the tree for the children.”

“You’ll have to explain the Satna thing later,” Bobbie replied. “Where are the presents?”

“They should be in Chrisjen’s closet behind her skirts” Arjun explained.

Bobbie went into Chrisjen’s closets and pushed aside the skirts on the bottom rack. Behind the endless layers of fabric was a large pile of brightly wrapped presents. Bobbie turned the hand terminal so that Arjun could see what she was looking at.

“Yes, now you just put them all under the tree and don’t let the children see you” Arjun instructed. 

Bobbie hung up the call with Arjun and crept across the hallway to the children’s bedroom. She peeked in and saw that they were both tucked in bed and asleep. She made quick work of bringing all the presents down the stairs and placing them under the tree. Bobbie wasn’t sure how exactly to place them, but she hoped she did good enough.

Luckily Chrisjen was wearing a rather simple outfit which made it easy for Bobbie to strip most of it off. She had to leave on the blouse that Chrisjen had on because she didn’t want to disconnect the autodoc and have to restart it. Once Chrisjen’s day clothes were off Bobbie managed to wiggle Chrisjen into a pair of large billowy pants that she assumed must be Arjun’s, but they looked more comfortable than most of what Chrisjen had available. Bobbie quickly got herself changed for bed and climbed in next to Chrisjen. Normally Chrisjen slept curled up lying on top of Bobbie’s chest, but tonight Bobbie curled into Chrisjen’s side and laid her head gently on Chrisjen’s shoulder. She fell asleep to the gentle sound of Chrisjen’s heartbeat. 

Chrisjen’s startled gasp woke Bobbie up. When she looked around the room she could see that it was light out already. She sat up gently and looked at Chrisjen. Chrisjen looked confused and Bobbie gently reached up and brushed some of Chrisjen’s hair out of her face. 

“What happened” Chrisjen asked.

Bobbie reached across and disconnected the autodoc from Chrisjen’s arm. She set it on the nightstand before pulling back. 

“You fell asleep during the movie and when I couldn’t wake you I realized you had a fever. I brought you upstairs and hooked you up to the autodoc to help you feel better” Bobbie explained. “You should be feeling better now.”

Chrisjen sat bolt upright and tried to get out of the bed. Bobbie grabbed her arm and held her back.

“The presents...we have to do the presents” Chrisjen exclaimed.

Bobbie rubbed her arm gently and pulled her back to lie down.

“It’s okay,” Bobbie comforted. “I did it last night. They’re under the tree.”

“How did you know what to do” Chrisjen asked.

“I called Arjun,” Bobbie replied.

Chrisjen smiled broadly. She cuddled down and leaned her head against Bobbie’s chest.

“I love you” Chrisjen whispered.

Bobbie’s heart swelled and she pressed a kiss to the top of Chrisjen’s head.

“I love you too” Bobbie whispered.


End file.
